3rd Anniversary of Mangalyaan: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission

Mangalyaan: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission was launched successfully in the first attempt. Six countries have tried their hands to send missions to Mars, India being the seventh. Only United States, Russia, and France were a part of this Mars club, until ‘Mangalyaan was successfully launched on November 5, 2013. No country, until today, had ever had a successful Mars mission at the first attempt.

In addition, Mangalyaan 2 or Mars-craft 2 is India’s second interplanetary mission planned for launch by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) between 2018 and 2020. It will consist of an orbiter, and may include a lander and a rover. The overall mission duration has been planned for 1 year. It will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre or Sriharikota Range (SHAR), which is a rocket launch center operated by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) located in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.